


Dirty Rich

by H_E_A_R_T_H



Category: Ao no Exorcist | Blue Exorcist
Genre: Blood and Violence, During Canon, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Burn, Swearing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:47:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26726155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_E_A_R_T_H/pseuds/H_E_A_R_T_H
Summary: Being alone wasn't all that bad, Misa Harada could speak from experience. Filling up time with pointless pastimes worked well, and when she grew bored of those, she'd switch it up and find something more interesting. Mephisto knew the feeling all too well, and that was one of the many reasons he decided to recruit Misa to become a teacher at True Cross' Exorcist Cram School.
Relationships: Mephisto Pheles/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 8





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I'm so excited to be sharing this with you all! I have big plans for this story and I'm really hoping you'll all stick around long enough to see them. Keep in mind, I'm a first year University student so my schedule is pretty hectic, and I'm one of the primary care takers of three children, so please be patient with updates.
> 
> Also, I see a lot of people tagging repetition as trigger warnings? There's a little bit in this chapter, just to be safe. Also mild gore! But that was implied in the tags, so I mean? I wouldn't recommend reading this story if blood makes you squeamish.

With the sun setting steadily, hues of fiery orange that only a summer dusk could bring hitting the side of the building, Misa Harada knew she had to act fast.

If it got any darker, they'd lose their advantage. When Misa got on the scene she was glad to see the residents had been evacuated, the only problem was the wreckage blocking the front entrance. There wasn't a back entrance, and the fire route's ladder rusted in place too high to reach. Soon the demon would find some way to escape, and they'd lose their opening.

Misa circled the building for the umpteenth time, seeing no movement in the windows. The light began to lilt closer to purple. Still nothing.

When Misa finished her lap, she stopped near a familiar face at the front of the building. She couldn't put a name to him, but she'd seen him quite often on jobs. With salt and pepper hair and crows feet, he looked like a man that had to have been a stressed out father doing the best he could.

"There's no use circling," he said, sighing. "We made the best of a shitty situation. All we can do now is wait, and if the demon escapes, then we can sleep sound knowing we didn't have any casualties."

Misa did her best to hide her disdain behind indifference. "I don't like that he's holed himself up in there." She tried her best to excuse her antsy behaviour. "Maybe he's got hostages we don't know about. There's got to be some reason he's hiding."

"He's scared," the man excused, chuckling. "We've backed him into a corner. Loosen up a... _little_."

By the end of the man's sentence, Misa began to walk off. She neared the side of the building, hidden beneath the growing shadows of the side alley, and craned her neck up. Someone on the third floor had left their window open.

Misa barrelled into the building next door. The door opened with a small chime, and only halfway in did the woman realize it was a convenience store. When she entered a back room, a panicked teenage employee was quick to make it to her side. Misa scaled a flight of stairs to the roof as the teenager prattled on behind her.

The roof had empty beer cans and used joints scattered along the floor. Misa ignored the clutter she had to step over to make it to the side. It wasn't a very far jump, and the window was a little higher up, but Misa wagered she could make it. So, making her way to the other end of the roof, she took a running start and leaped the distance. Her fingers just barely clung to the window sill, but Misa managed a nice grip, pulling herself up and inside the apartment.

She was in a bathroom, evidently a child's. There were several dolls and squeaky toys littered in the tub and on the floor, and there was a path of water ranging from the bath to the door. A peek inside showed blue bubbles were still trying to make it down the drain. The bubbles gave off a sweet smell, something like cotton candy or bubblegum. The residents had been evacuated hours prior, someone had to have been bathing recently.

Once Misa opened the door and the sweet scented air filtered out, the smell of blood sat thick in the air. She quickly unsheathed her sword, looking both ways. Misa stood in a hallway, three messy rooms left open but void of a body. She walked down the narrow hallway, peering past the corner.

The living room had to have been painted white originally, except the blood coating the walls was overpowering. From the shock of long black hair, the corpse could have been a woman, except they were so disfigured it was hard to really tell who they could or couldn't have been. Misa wondered if they could even be identified.

Misa quickly drew herself away. There was no point in lingering, the demon had to have moved on. There were three bedrooms, all evidently used due to the excessive mess, and only one corpse. Hostages _were_ taken.

It was hard to avoid all the blood, no matter how pointed Misa's toes were, so she ended up trailing blood out of the apartment. She could hear dripping in the distance, somewhere above her. A fleeting glance at the blood marking her steps only made Misa's nerves grow.

"I hear you, _exorcist_ ," a feeble voice called out, breaking out into laughter that just barely reached above a whisper. "I hear little feet step, step, stepping.... Come closer, if you dare."

The building was old, with no elevator, only a set of stairs near the centre of the hallway. A patch of blue bubbles sat on the bottom step, the steps preceding it glistening with water. Misa readjusted her grip on her sword, keeping a firm hand on the railing as she climbed up the stairs, careful not to slip.

“Children come out so fragile.” Once Misa neared the top of the steps she peered over the side, seeing no one in the nearby halls. “Trading a son for a son isn’t unreasonable, exorcist.”

The sound was coming from the right. The water trail confirmed Misa’s suspicions. She made her way up the steps, grateful that the wall protruded out where the stairs started, covering her. She made her way to the right side of the hallway, back to the wall.

“Give me the son of Satan!” The demon had to have been far down the hall from the sound of his voice. “I will bring him back to Gehenna where he belongs, and in return you can have this child. It’s a fair deal, better than any other demon would offer. You should be grateful!”

Misa knew she had to act quickly. The apartment from before had three rooms; one for their parent, and two for the children. From the way the demon spoke, it was safe to assume he’d only gotten one child. The lack of a second corpse meant the second child had to be nearby. Misa couldn’t risk interference from a scared victim.

She darted out from behind her corner, sprinting down the hall. The demon stood at the end with his back against the wall, a little boy held in front of him, covered in a towel and blue bubbles, soaked and shivering. Looking at the boy, Misa could connect similarities with him and the corpse. With longer hair and a narrowed face, she wondered how similar the two would look. The big blue eyes that stared back at her begging for help split Misa’s heart in two.

The same couldn’t be said for the demon. The vessel was a scrawny man, with shaggy brown hair and a patchy beard. He gave off a rancid smell that reeked of sweat, alcohol, and beef. Misa struck for the demon’s neck, only for him to stop the blade in the air, clasping it firmly.

“After all my generosity.” Blood ran down his arm in a steady stream, the grin that stretched from ear to ear unbefitting of someone who should be in a fair amount of pain. “I wanted to avoid pointless deaths, but if you’d really like to push me into a corner…”

“You’re talking nonsense,” Misa yelled, planting a kick on the center of the demon’s chest, using the momentum to pull both her sword and the child out of the demon’s grasp. “Leave the kid out of this, they can’t defend themselves!”

The demon hunched over, a growl emanating from deep within. His skin turned a patchy grey colour, muscles rippling. Misa heard the child’s breathing speed up behind her.

“Try getting some distance, huh,” Misa spoke over her shoulder, sending a smile that looked more like a grimace. “I’ll, uh, try my best to make this quick.”

While the demon’s limbs began elongating, Misa surged forwards and grabbed his tail, wrapping it around her fist and giving it a solid tug. The demon arched his back, letting out a pained scream that cut off when Misa plunged her sword between his shoulder blades.

His knees went heavy, and when Misa removed the blade, the demon toppled to the ground. For safe measures, Misa pulled his head by the hair, promptly slicing off his head. The blood splattered over the floor and Misa’s face, quickly pooling beneath her.

The man from before ranged around the corner, along with two other lower level exorcists, the little boy from before leading the way. When he made eye contact with Misa he had to pause, wrapping his towel tighter around him as he gaped at her. One of the exorcists had to stop to reassure the child.

“It took you long enough,” Misa griped, standing and wiping her face with the back of her hand.

“We just got the debris down by the front entrance down,” the man said, nodding to the smaller boy, some scrawny teen. “This lower rank’s got a hefty familiar up his sleeve. Cleared the whole thing out in a couple minutes.”

“That’s nice,” Misa replied sarcastically, rolling her shoulders. "Where's the other kid?"

The man rose a brow, looking as if Misa'd grown a second head. "There's just the one, not sure why this family wasn't accounted for." His gaze shifted uncertainly, looking downcast. "I saw the corpse, a shame they couldn't evacuate. It looks like someone's getting a suspension."

"There were three rooms." Misa's tone was laced with growing panic, volume rising with it. "The pink room, there was a blue room and a pink room. _Where's the daughter_?"

The man's face slowly dropped, and Misa connected the dots before he could respond. "You mean the nursery," he breathed out. "Yeah, an exorcist stepped in to do a quick sweep before we made our way up.... He found tags on a majority of the stuff in the room."

Misa had made a fatal error in analysation. The affect left a chilling silence where she was left to process the hefty information, focusing on her breathing. Finally, she spoke out in a tight voice. “Hitoshi, was it?”

“Kouichi, actually.” The man ran a hand through his thinning hair sheepishly. “Nice try, I guess.”

“Yeah that’s great.” Misa stared at him for a long while.

When the woman hadn’t spoken, only stared, Kouichi spoke up uncertainly. “Is something wrong…?” He trailed off, scoffing. “If this is about that demon, I know you know better than to actually take something he’d said to heart. You’ve been in here all of fifteen minutes and there’s a corpse on the floor.”

Misa stared uncertainly, vision going in and out of focus, vertigo shaking her very being. “I’ve been an exorcist for years,” she enunciated carefully, sounding confident despite the way her dry tongue stuck to the top of her throat. “Of course I know all demons speak is nonsense.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mephisto and Misa have a heated face off, where he reveals the death of Shiro Fujimoto.

It was exactly three twenty in the morning when Mephisto Pheles appeared on Misa’s doorstep, ringing the bell and waiting for an excessive amount of time before the door was thrown open forcefully.

There was a pregnant pause before Misa could speak. “I thought Shiro would be showing up.” She sighed, stepping further into her home, expecting the demon would follow close behind. “Is the situation with the twins that bad?”

Down the long hall, Misa led him to a sitting area with two eggplant couches, decorative paintings and sculptures lining the wall. “I thought I’d come personally,” Mephisto told her jovially, stopping beside a stone statue. “My, what a fine piece! Have you already moved on to sculpting?”

It was just like Mephisto to beat around the bush, irritating but not at all surprising.

“It’s an old gift,” she said through gritted teeth. “Let’s make this quick, I don’t want the stench of demon lingering. It makes my dog uncomfortable.”

“Ah, the golden retriever!” Mephisto beamed, choosing a couch to sit on with a flourish. “And how has he been? He was so small last I’d come, you’ve been such a stranger.”

“Samael,” Misa enunciated slowly, “I don’t have time to play your games. I have places to be in the morning, and would much rather be doing anything else but talking to you.”

Mephisto placed a lean hand on his chest, feigning hurt. “You’re so cold for someone with such good taste in couches,” he joked, waving his hand in a gesture for Misa to sit down as well. “Sit, relax, it’s been  _ ages _ ! I heard you published a book not too long ago.”

There was a moment of tension where the two stared each other down. Mephisto knew she'd answer, he knew Misa well, no matter how guarded she tried to act around him.

“It’s a murder mystery,” she said as she sat down on a couch vertical to him. “It’s the first of a trilogy.”

“I look forward to reading it.” Misa hated how smug Mephisto looked, the simple action of crossing his legs seemed to raise her blood pressure. “You’ve always been such an amazing artist. If your writing is anything like your art, I’m sure I’ll be in for a phenomenal read!”

Sometimes Misa dreaded how insightful she was, this instance being an example in particular. For once she’d like to be coddled and eased into a revelation, not have her observance throw her a terrible misfortune without being eased into the grim truth. Misa had to take a deep breath in before she could speak in a leveled tone.

“Something’s wrong with Shiro,” she deducted, “I contacted him yesterday after my run-in with a lower-to-middle class demon, he usually responds pretty quick. Now you’re here, out of some sort of twisted obligation.”

“Your cleverness never fails to impress!” Mephisto winked, leaning back and laughing. “Quick to jump to conclusions, are we?”

“This wouldn’t have happened if he didn't take those two in.” Misa stood from her seat, every molecule of her being vibrating in rage. “You were the one who made Shiro do this. I don’t know how you convinced him, but you’re the reason Shiro took the sons of Satan in.”

“It certainly has been a while since we’ve had this argument,” Mephisto sang with a content expression. “After all these years, I’m afraid I have the same answer! Shiro chose to raise those children of his own volition.”

“Then  _ where is he _ ?” Misa exclaimed, leaning close to Mephisto. Anger radiated off of her, and while she’d intimidate anyone else, Mephisto wasn’t just anyone. He returned her icy glare with nonchalance.

“His funeral is in two days.”

Despite suspecting this was the case since she’d opened her house up to the demon, Misa couldn’t help but freeze in shock. She could still feel the ghost of a comforting hand on her shoulder during days that were especially stressful, the familiar guffawing that made her stomach settle comfortably. The chilling realization that those means of comfort had been ripped from her made her stomach sink heavier than a corpse in metal boots.

As much as she wanted to accuse him of lying, she couldn’t see what Mephisto would gain from it. 

“Get out,” she settled on saying.

“We’ve only been speaking for a couple of minutes,” Mephisto whined, leaning further back into the couch. “Don’t you want to know-”

In a split second Misa had a grip on Mephisto’s collar, wrapping the fabric in her fist and tugging him forwards. She spoke close to him, enough so that she could feel his breath hitting her face. “You killed the closest thing to a father I will ever have.”

Mephisto’s grin didn’t waver. “Why, I did nothing of the sort,” he claimed, “In fact, he killed  _ himself _ .”

Misa tightened her grip on his collar, then threw him somewhere to the left unceremoniously. Her vision clouded, and the world around her seemed anything but present. For a moment, Misa could almost hear the cogs of her brain stutter for several moments, then desperately try to catch up with the rapid beating of her heart. Her world consisted only of the pounding of her heartbeat in her ears and Mephisto's abhorrent claim bouncing around in her skull.

The key was what Mephisto would have to gain from lying. Misa tried her best to figure out what impulsive action she’d do in her grief, but all she could imagine would be endless sulking and isolation. There would be no gain, only the possibility of lives being lost while she denied exorcisms in the midst of her grieving.

The question wasn’t what Mephisto would gain from Misa’s emotional response, then. It was what he’d gain from Shiro’s death.

“And who’s taken up control of the twins?”

A delighted giggle came from Mephisto, and Misa assumed she’d hit the nail on the hammer. “I’ve become their legal guardian,” he confirmed, “A shame you or Shura couldn’t have taken up the task, but alas, it looks like Shiro thought I was a better fit.”

Misa wanted to throw her arms in the air and shriek until her vocal cords shredded to a bloody mess.

“Now  _ that _ has to be a lie,” Misa finally was able to say confidently. “He’d never choose a demon over me, he would have… he would have at least  _ checked _ with me!”

“While you could cloud your judgement thinking of niceties, I think I should tell you Shiro actually used his dying moments to entrust my contact information with Rin.” Mephisto paused for a moment, then sighed. “The eldest twin. He’s already contacted me, he really doesn’t waste much time!”

Misa turned to look at Mephisto, eyes glazed over and face burning bright red in rage. “Do what you will with that information.” Mephisto waved his hand in a gesture of dismissal. “If you’d like, you could meet the children. It certainly has been years, hasn’t it?”

Misa could vaguely remember Yukio. He was a small, frail boy, especially when placed beside Shura. Shiro would always produce him with pride at his side, until eventually, Misa avoided seeing the man in person and stuck to calls or texts. Still, the memory of the timid boy stuck.

Rin on the other hand was a complete mystery.

“Why would I want to meet the children of Satan?” Misa huffed, turning her back to Mephisto. She couldn’t stand to look at his smug expression any longer. “If Shiro really killed himself, it was to get away from them.”

“First you accuse me of being the cause of Shiro’s death, but now his own adoptive children?” Mephisto let out a boisterous laugh. “You certainly are cold!”

Misa opened her mouth to enunciate a biting remark, but stopped as her lips formed the first syllable. While she couldn’t exactly say anything about Rin, Yukio was always polite and well mannered, despite sticking to Shiro’s side like a pesky bur. He never looked all that threatening, and that’s what Misa hated most. That child could bring mass destruction, yet he cowered at the lightest narrow of a brow, and caved under pressure.

Yukio couldn’t have been his father’s demise.

“I’ll meet them at the funeral,” Misa concluded. “That’s enough for me for a lifetime.”

“Yukio certainly has taken after Shiro,” Mephisto pried, stepping closer. “In not too long, he’ll be taking up a position as a teacher at my cram school!”

Mephisto threw a hand over Misa’s shoulders, pulling her close. “Getting close to your idol’s adoptive children, doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

Misa elbowed Mephisto, then gave him a rough push that had him backpedaling into the couch. It was forced back a good distance, the floor shrieking in protest. “If you think I’m gonna be a fucking teacher at your cram school, then you’ve got a couple screws loose!”

Mephisto settled back into the couch, as if he’d never gotten up in the first place. “It’s an amazing opportunity,” he claimed, “And it could certainly replace the spontaneous hobbies you’ve got yourself juggling. The change of units should satisfy your restlessness.”

“This is not happening in my house,” Misa yelled, “Get the hell out!”

“Is something wrong?” A small voice from the hallway interrupted.

By the door of the room stood a little boy clad in blue pyjamas, a white blanket wrapped tightly around him. “Go back to bed, Kaiyo,” Misa said quickly, “I’ll come to check on you in a second.”

The boy hesitated, and Mephisto took that as his cue. “I wasn’t aware you had a son,” he said in a cheerful manner, sitting up and waving in Kaiyo’s direction. “It's lovely meeting you, little one! This sure has been an absolute riot, but I’m afraid it looks like I’ve overstayed my welcome. Until next time, then!”

With that, Mephisto disappeared in a cloud of pink smoke, and Misa was left to deal with the aftermath.

“Did he…”

“He did,” Misa breathed out thickly, “C’mon, let’s get you back to sleep, kid.”

He complied easily, letting himself be led down the twisting halls of Misa’s mansion. Misa wasn’t sure if Kaiyo was still numb from the events of the day before, or if he couldn’t find the room he’d been shown by himself. Probably a fair mix of both.

Witnessing a demon slaughtering your mother and unborn sister in such a gruesome manner really took a lot out of a child.

The room Misa left him with wasn’t all that spectacular, she tried to give him the plainest one possible. She was afraid Kaiyo would mess something up, but so far the child had been exceedingly polite. The only thing he’d really needed was a nightlight, and Misa figured a room with a bathroom worked, so she left the bathroom door open and let the light filter in. Even during dinner, the child ate very little, and only pushed his food around the plate until Misa suggested saving it for later.

For the second time that night, or rather, now morning, Misa tucked Kaiyo into bed. When she went to leave, the boy took her hand.

“Was that man like…” Kaiyo wasn’t sure quite how to phrase the question, but Misa connected the dots easily.

“In a way,” Misa settled on saying. “Now get some sleep.”

Kaiyo’s blue eyes quickly flooded with tears. “I can’t… can you read me a story?” He breathed in and out shakily. “Mom, she’d… she liked, I mean she’d-”

Misa cut him off by sitting on his bedside, running a hand through his hair and shushing him. “Yeah, yeah, I got it,” she cooed, “I have something in mind. My brother and I wrote it when we were around your age.”

Kaiyo’s breathing began to slow, and he looked up with pleading eyes. Misa took that as an indication to begin. “This story is about a pirate,” Misa said, “The people of his island saw him as a terrible man, and they kicked him out to sea. He figured he’d find a crew on an island nearby, so he left his island and went searching for people like him.”

By then Kaiyo was breathing normally, and Misa took it upon herself to wipe the tears from his face as she spoke. “But then there was a terrible storm, and his boat was destroyed. The pirate washed up on a small island, where there was no one but a single girl.” Misa held up a finger to indicate the number. “She was a villager from a nearby island that got caught up in the storm, and was shipwrecked just like the pirate. During their time together, the pirate was surprised to see her build shelter, carry on their food supply, and carry on chore after chore daily.”

By this point in the story Kaiyo was smiling. “While the girl worked tirelessly and the pirate sat and filled a role of moral support,  they lived their days happily together. Until eventually,  the pirate grew sick. The girl didn’t know anything about medicine, so the pirate died fast. He died in the girl’s arms, and shortly after, she died with him.” Kaiyo’s smile wiped off his face quickly. “Poppies bloomed around their bodies, and after a long time, grew over them. Soon enough, the flowers spread from just their deathbeds to the entire island. For miles sailors saw the red island of poppies, and watched what the two created in awe.”

Misa smiled down at Kaiyo, who only looked up at her in shock. “They created something beautiful,” she explained, “Didn’t you like that story?”

Kaiyo took a moment to formulate his answer, mouth opening and closing like a fish. “I, uh… I mean, sure…”

Misa could tell he didn’t like it, but she stood anyway. It was better than nothing, she decided. “Well then, goodnight. I’m just down the hall if you need me, my door’s always open.”

The boy nodded quickly, and she left the room, shutting off the main light on her way out. As she walked off, she heard stifled sobbing from the room.


End file.
